The Miller Group has reported a return to profit on a £32 million rise in annual revenue to £619.9 million.

The group has turned around a £30.4 million pre-tax loss reported for 2011 to a pre-tax profit of £6.6 million for the year to December 31, 2012.

Turnover rose in the group's property, construction and mining divisions but was down slightly in housing.

However, the group notes a £6 million gain from the sale of three mature PFI contracts, and under a raft of financial restructuring the group is still paying three quarters of cash generated managing the interest on debt.

Net interest paid during the year was £22.6 million – 77 per cent of profit before interest generated across all group divisions – compared with £51.2 million in interest paid in 2011.

The group reports net assets also rose to £236.5 million against net liabilities of £183.5 million the previous year.

Miller also notes a “loan waiver” valued at £48.9 million during the 2012 year which was added to overall profits to a total gain for the year of £54.4 million (2011: £86.6 million loss).

Cash inflow from operations dropped two per cent on the previous year to £40.1 million (2011: £42.3 million).

In housing, the group reported a two per cent fall in turnover to £266 million though gross margins rose five per cent on the previous year to 16 per cent.

The group said private reservations per site per week were 0.46 – 10 per cent ahead of the previous year.

House sale prices “were static” the group said, and cancellation rates dropped to 13 per cent against 17 per cent the previous year, described as “historic lows”.

In construction, turnover rose to £259.4 million (2011: £238.6 million) and Miller said it added work valued at £500 million to the division's order book – a 50 per cent rise on 2011 – to leave a year-end order book valued at £844 million.

A further £686 million of work is estimated to be tied into existing framework agreements realisable over the next five years.

The group said 77 per cent of its total construction order book is secured by “long term framework and PPP contracts”.

The group said profit from the construction division was lifted by the disposal of three mature PFI investments for £6 million.

In property, Miller reports an operating profit of £5.4 million (2011: £8.8 million loss) on a 30 per cent rise in turnover to £60.6 million.

The group said property profits came from completion of a 105,000 sq. ft office development in Nottingham, which was forward sold to a Midlands-based family trust; the sale of eight acres in Fort William to Tesco; land sales at Linwood near Glasgow; and offloading the remainder of its German retail portfolio.

Miller also reports “another excellent year” in mining, with turnover up seven per cent to £34.2 million and operating profits up 23 per cent to £9.2 million, despite coal tonnage dropping to 888,000 tonnes (2011: 987,000 tonnes).

Miller said it “continued to benefit from high coal prices during 2012 having hedged the majority of our output when the market was high”, but adds turnover will fall in 2013.

The group said in its outlook statement: “Markets are becoming more predictable and stable. The group has a strong balance sheet, committed long term bank facilities and high quality management teams.

“We have made good progress in improving the margins in our consented land bank and, in addition, we have a valuable strategic land portfolio which will underpin our future land requirements.

“Together with a record construction order book and a high quality commercial property development pipeline, the group is strongly positioned for 2013 and beyond.

“The board is confident that The Miller Group is well equipped to take full advantage of opportunities to increase value for its shareholders.”

The group said it reduced net debt by £504.6 million over the course of the 2012 financial year as well as securing a new five-year, £238.5 million banking facility.

Net debt at the year end was £202 million (2011: £706.6 million) and creditors due within one year was £180.4 million at the year end (2011: £823.8 million).

Miller Group reported in first half results last September it had turned around a £52.9m loss to a year-on-year pre-tax profit of £0.4 million.

The profit turnaround was put down to property sales and a reduction in its debt burden as a result of a restructuring package agreed in February 2012.

That restructuring and refinancing resulted in the group reducing net debt from £706.6 million at the year-end to £217 million as of June 30, 2012.

The group converted £216.6 million of its debt to ordinary shares – debt for equity – and a further £48.9 million of group debt was waived, which was transferred to “distributable reserves”. In addition, the group's £238.5 million lending facility was extended to February 2017.

Miller Group agreed a new £160 million funding package which saw it relinquish a 50 per cent stake to its financier GSO Partners – the credit arm of private equity giant Blackstone Group – along with Noble Grossart and the Royal Bank of Scotland, which increased its stake to 23 per cent.

Miller Group posted no further write-downs in its land and development assets for the first half of 2012, against write-downs of £34.6 million in the first half of last year and a total write-down of £53.6 million at the year end to December 31, 2011.

The group has made no further write-downs on the value of its assets.

Miller said its consented land bank has a gross development value of £1.5 billion at the year end against £1.4 billion in 2011.

Group chief executive Keith Miller said: “The group performed well, with underlying profit before interest up 40 per cent compared to last year [to £29.2 million].

“Although we are continuing to operate in a demanding economic environment, the group has a strong balance sheet and long term committed bank facilities, which provides us with financial flexibility.

“We have made good progress in improving the margins in our consented land bank and, in addition, we have a valuable strategic land portfolio which will underpin our future land requirements.

“Together with a record construction order book and a high quality commercial property development pipeline, the group is strongly positioned for 2013 and beyond.”